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Notes from the Field: May 2, 2017

XL frame, extra-long, well-proportioned, athletic, controls his body; weight gets buried on back leg, comes up on his toes a bit to launch; late trigger, moderate wrap, flat bat at launch, can get top-hand heavy and stiff; plus bat speed, bat path is long, more swing-and-miss than average; does show some ability to adjust in swing; plus raw, can generate plane on balls down in the zone, fly balls have carry, can drive it to all fields; 4.2 from the left side, has a second gear, aggressive baserunner; largely untested in first looks, physicality and tools suggest some defensive potential in right; quality arm strength, accurate, repeats throwing mechanics well, potential plus tool.

Javier Guerra, SS, San Diego Padres (High-A Lake Elsinore)
Still a mess at the plate; stiff, aggressive stride, has clearly been working on keeping his front shoulder closed, currently doing so to a fault; upper- and lower-halves don't sync consistently, unbalanced, top hand-heavy, swinging down on the ball, lots of rollovers, getting shifted against in High-A; timing just isn't there, lots of swing-and-miss, expands consistently against changeups down, late to elevated velo; 4.45 on a double-play dig, frustrated out of the box; physical talent at shortstop still evident, quality relay footwork, 6-plus arm strength, minimal tail, accurate when he gets behind the ball; still gets lackadaisical on routine plays, concerning given prevalence of similar issues last year.

Greg GoldsteinKeegan Akin, LHP, Baltimore Orioles (High-A Frederick)
Saw for 5 IP. Stocky build; easy three-quarters delivery with minimal effort, compact and steady until the release; clean throughout. Sat at 93-95 on the FB in the first; 91-93 in the rest of the way; slightly above-average arm speed allows him to maintain velo well; mostly straight with arm-side movement at times; hitters were frequently late on the pitch. Low-80s CH; potential average offering with moderate movement down in the zone; Went with the pitch in two-strike counts. SL has 2/7 movement; doesn’t give away the pitch, has sharpness to it, although it doesn’t have elite-level late movement. Control/Command: was in the zone for most of the start, frequently attacked hitters up in two-strike counts; has the ability to get ahead early and can hit his spots with his offspeed offerings; steady mechanics keeps his pitches from getting too wild.

Akin doesn’t have a build or the athleticism that jumps off the page, but everything else about him signals a future rotation piece. He offers polish more than pure stuff, though he could boast two plus pitches in time, in his low-to-mid-90s fastball, and his darting slider. The latter will require some refinement as there are outings when he struggles to put away hitters, and he runs up his pitch count. The change can flash parachute action and has room to grow into an average offering. He maintains his stuff well because of his clean mechanics and lack of effort in his delivery, which makes him a pretty safe bet to project as a starter moving forward.

Short, not small; high-tempo, high-effort delivery; high-three-quarters slot, slightly closed off, some cross-fire action; fast, live arm; FB 95-97 (t98), held velocity across three innings of his outing, poor command, missed all over with pitch, straight, no movement or ride, plays below velo, hitters smoked it when left up; SL 84-86, sharp break, hard bite, flashed plush, go-to secondary offering, had some feel for the pitch to the glove side, not great command; CH 86-87, inconsistent offering, lacked feel or confidence in the pitch, currently third pitch, had many hard, straight changes, would leave it up, maintains arm speed well, had a few with good tumble and fade, one flashed plus; whole package is raw for a college arm, premium velocity plays down, potential for two above-average secondary offerings, stuff indicates ceiling of a mid-rotation starter, but command issues tied with questions about how the body will handle a starter's workload suggest he might fit best in the bullpen.

Quick Hits: Jhoan Urena (Mets) has a decent frame filled with a flabby midsection; lacks muscle; some length in legs; needs to improve body composition; good teammate, comes to play every day and with a wide smile on his face, competes…(JB) Taylor Hawkins (Rays) has well-below-average size at 5-foot-10, limited projection; quick, clean med arm path finishing at H3/4; KN 68-71, consistently inconsistent movement, gets whiffs; FB 83-85 with at times small cutterish movement, mostly used when behind in count…(JB) Luis Alexander Basabe (White Sox) showed average bat speed with a linear swing. Improving pitch recognition with tighter, upright stance. Moderate barrel control. Switch-hitter with solid pull power to right field from the left side, not showing same power from the right side. Average reads in CF…(VF)

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